Herbarium

A herbarium is an organized collection of preserved plant specimens, usually dried and mounted, maintained as a reference for research, identification, and documentation of plant diversity.

Herbarium specimen: A preserved plant or plant part kept as a documented scientific reference. The specimen is the basic unit collected, prepared, and consulted in a herbarium.
Plant collecting: The gathering of plant material for study, documentation, or cultivation. Field collecting supplies the material that becomes herbarium specimens.
Plant identification: The process of determining the identity of a plant from its observable features or other evidence. Comparisons with identified specimens help establish a plant's name.
Herbarium digitization: The creation of digital images and data records from herbarium specimens. Digitization lets dispersed specimens be searched and compared without handling originals.
Plant press: A device that flattens and dries plant material between absorbent sheets. Pressing preserves plant form before specimens enter long-term storage.
Plant preservation: Methods for preventing or slowing the deterioration of plant material. Herbaria depend on preservation methods to retain specimens over time.
Biodiversity monitoring: The repeated measurement of biological diversity to detect change over time. Specimen records provide historical baselines for plant distributions and diversity.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility: An international network providing open access to biodiversity data from institutions worldwide. Its records make many herbarium specimen data discoverable across collections.
Botanical illustration: A visual depiction of plants made to communicate their diagnostic features. Illustrations can record details that pressing obscures or damages.
Herbarium mounting: The attachment of a dried plant specimen to a backing sheet for storage and study. Mounting makes specimens stable to handle and easy to examine.

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